Improvement in refrigerator-buildings



C. L. RIKE'R.

Y v REFRIGERAMLBUILDING. No. 189,958. v Y Patented Apri`1'z4,1s7v.

Wrrmzs Es lNvENToR PLPETERS. PHOTO-UTHOGRAFHER. WASHINGTON. D. C4

"UNITED STATES EPrrrElv'r OFFICE.

CARROLL L. RIKER, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVEMENT IN REFRIGERAToR-Buuomes.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 189,958, dated April 24, 1877 application led November 18, 1876.

To all whom it may concern:

YBe it known that I, CARROLL L. BIKER, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Refrigerator-Buildings; and I hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l represents a vertical sectional view of the building; Fig. 2, a horizontal sectional view of the same.

This invention relates to refrigerator-buildings for the storage of articles of food, and maintenance of thesame at a low temperature; and it consists in certain features and details ofthe building, as hereinafter fully described and claimed. I

In the accompanying drawings, A represents the outer shell of the building, preferably of brick-work or masonry; and B, a lining of some non-conducting material, such as powdered charcoal.

Inside of the inner lining A' is another lining, L, arranged at a short distance from the lining A', so as to leave an open space, E, completely surrounding the part of the interior of the building inclosed by the partition L.

The interior of the structure is furnished with suitable floors O C G, and has a flue, F, extending from the ceiling to the lower floor. At one side of the building the lining lL extends imperforate nearly to the top of the building, where an opening is left, the lining of the central flue having no opening except atV the bottom. On this side of the building the floors G C are pierced with numerous perforations. l

On the opposite side of the building both the central flue F and lining L are perforated at points just below the liloors O C, which latter are not perforated, as on the other side, but are furnished with automatically-closing hatches I I.

These hatches consist of two parts, which meet in the center of the opening, and are arranged to slide backward under the floors upon a suitable railway. .Weights W W, attached to chains or ropes t', serve to close the hatch. An elevator, H, of the form shown in the drawings, is arranged to be lifted in the with blocks of ice. The walls of the ice-chamber slant inward at the bottom, near which point they are perforated, to permit the egress of the current of air from above.

The entrance to the building is constructed as follows: The walls are pierced at some point just above the working-floor G', and a suitable closedchute, G, is provided, which reaches from the sidewalk to the floor C'. This chute is provided with two doors, m m',

Vhinged at the top, and arranged to swing in- Ward and outward, the doors inelosing a ves` tihule, M. The object of this construction is to enable goods to be brought into or taken from the refrigeratonbuilding without permitting ingress of the warm air from outside or egress of the cold air from the building.

Other means of access may, of course, be employed.

When the building is in use the blower D is caused to revolve, thus drawing a current `of air from the flue F into the working-charnber. This current iinds its exit downward through the perforations in the door O', and thence through the interstices between the blocks of ice and the perforations in the icechamber'walls k into the chamber K. From this chamber it rises through the passage E, which may or may not completely surround the-interior of the building. On the side of the building in which tue floors are perforated top of each chamber, and a portion-of the currentl of cold air finds entrance into each of the the others.

a usages apartments. The enteringi cold air sinks to the iioor of thechamb'er, and the incoming current causes it to rise gradually and displace the air of the apartment, which air passes out through an opening, y, (also at the top of the chamber,) into the central Hue, and thence to the blower.

The advantages attained by the described construction of the two sides or halves of the building may be briefly mentioned.

It is obvious that the current ot air is coldest at the moment it emerges from the icechamber into the= chamber K, and warmest als On the side of the buildin-g in which the.

floors are perforate thetempcrature is practically uniform, since the incoming air yhas passed entirely to the top of the bnilding,"and thereby has acquired all the warmth which it is going to attain before entering any ofthe refrigerating-chambers. On the other side of the building this is not-the case.

None ofthe chambers communicates directly with those above or below, except bythe hatchways, which are always closed either bythe hatches or by the elevator itself", cach thus constituting a chamber toitsclf. It is clear that the temperatures in these chambers will vary, the lowest being the coldest, since the air entering it has traversed but apart ofthe distance to the top of the building, and has not, therefore, absorbedy much warmth fromv the walls of the building. A series of chambers are thus formed, easy of access, and each of a known temperature, varying' from that of This construction `furnishes a chamber in which the temperature'is very loW, andsuitable for the storage of articles which will spoil at any but very'low temperatures, while above it are other chambers for the storage of less perishable goods. vThe otherside of the buildingcontains a series of communieating chambers, in all of which the temperature is about the same, suitable for the storage of goods which do not demand an excessively low temperature, au d calculated for the storage of goods-such as butter, dta-which are to be lkept for a considerable time to await arise in the market-price.

I have described no particular means of vaccess to, these chambers, 'since anyconvenient one will answer-such as lan elevator or pulley and platform. `Precautions need only be taken to keep the opening in the lowest floor closed tight, except when -goods are being stored,

otherwise the current of air from the blower may rise through the opening, instead. of descending through the ice.

The large cham ber in which the fan works, and which I call the preliminary cooling or Working cham ber,77 is useful for the temporary storage of goods which do not demand a very low temperature to prevent spoiling; but'itlis especiallyldesigned lto furnish Lacharnlberz in which'thegoods'which areto beplacel'i'n the colder apartments will undergo a preliminary cooling before entering the refrigerating-chambers proper. By this means any bad results arisingffrom aime-sudden refrigeration of the goods are obviated, as well as the contamination of the temperature of the refrigeratingchambers Vby 'the introduction of warm or rather hot articles-such as strawberries or blackberries fresh from the fields, and picked lWhile I the temperature reached, Lp-erbaris, :1250 `-Fahrenheit.

y l attach special importance to the construction of the walls ofthe ice-chamber, which are formed as shown,1slantinginward, with the perforation-snearthe bottomi only. "Were the Awalls perpendicular, I=as -is usual, -th'e ice would melt away-from th'em,'leavingan openspace for the pass'ag'eof the'air, which would not thenbe-comp'elled to traversethe interstices'betweenthe blocks-of ice. By my constructionI thelweigh-t of lthefiee cau-sesvit to 'fall as fast as melted against the inclined walls. The -pc'rtorations in the 'walls -being vonly-near thebottom, ther-air iscompelled to traverse nearly the entire depthofthe yice before entering the chamber K. Nrlhis chamber is designed to furnish 'a =largecompartment,

` in which-the vair ipractically comes to -rest before ascending the space E. During this, period of rest anyspraywhich th-eair carries Ifrom the ice-chamber is precipitated, and is 'conducted awaywith the drip-from themelting ofthe ice. Y l

The pipe forthe vexit of the waterispreferf ably constructed with` a-=gooseneckl toform a water-seal, so as to air from outside.

prevent ingress-of warm Buildings similarin construction tolthat of Ieither of the two 4halvesof thelbuilding may4 be constructed 'and used; separately, their juxtapositiom` as shown, -beingmerely for thel sake of convenience.

`Some of the perforations in-tletloor G- may be closed-by"suitable piecesof board, xpif desired; and this feature becomes peculiarly valuable in case the ice intheice-chamher is 'seen to be meltingirregularly. lf such is the-case vtheperforations in-theoor Glare closed-over the place where the ice :is -most melted,\and the. current of air :being Ythus diverted fromv that portion of the ice, the melting goesfon morefrapidly-in 4the other portions of the icecham ber, and the level of `the icefis `restored.

It is obvious that ithe temperaturein-the vchambers having the sliding hatches may be vregulated by openingor closing' thel entrances from the ue E, since the temperature of these chambersiwill, in: great m,easure,\dependupon the-amountofcold air introduced.

The openings in the `ue F maybe closed partially-'or compl'etely by means of ithe -airchecks g g g.- Similar air-checks may be used to partially close the entrance-to the chambers on` the opposite side ofthe building.

Having thus described my invention, what I -claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In combination With the ice-chamber of 3. Ihe chute G, having doors m m', as and for the purpose set forth.

4. In combination with the building ALthe chamber C', into which the air passes from the storage-chambers, as and for the purpose described.

5. The combination of the flue F, fan D, and chambers C', K,E, and C", substantially as described.

6. The method herein described of regulating and controlling the melting of the ice, the

same consisting in diverting the current of air from those portions of the ice-chamber Where the ice is most melted, substantially as described.

CARROLL L. RIKER. Witnesses:

MURRAY W. SMITH, RIGHD. D. WILLIAMS. 

